And we ran, and they ran. Almost. Sheriffmuir 1715

We returned to the Jacobite rebellion, after a gap of about 18 months, only this time at the request of Richard, we went back to the '15 and the glorious shambles that was Sheriffmuir. 

It's a bit problematic, as ever, as the location of forces and so on is open to debate. This set up is based upon Stuart Reid's "Sheriffmuir 1715"*, which has the two armies facing each other east/west. Annoyingly there's a period map of the area and deployments, drawn up up the British Army afterwards, but the second sheet with the actual unit locations is missing.

My other issue was to fit it on the table such that the camera could get a decent perspective on it, without losing too much of the corners. That means a 6' x 4' area, when for this battle I probably need closer to 8'-10' x 5'. I had to cut back on the actual number of units deployed to make them fit, but that didn't affect the game too much.

The battle takes place in November, mostly on the top of Sheriffmuir, which is a raised plateau area near Dunblane. The ground was frozen, which aided movement as the area is normally boggy. The armies knew they were in close proximity and lay in the open with their arms the night before, but didn't know exactly where the other side was. That meant when they did find out there was a degree of confusion amongst the Jacobites as they formed up. 

As further background the the Jacobites were under the command of the 11th Earl of Mar (aka "Bobbing John"), as immortalised in song by Genesis. Mar was a politician, not a military man, and he saw his role as raising an army for the Old Pretender (the putative James III) to command. James never landed from the ship that brought him from France before the battle - typical Stuart uselessness - leaving Mar and his followers to confront the weak Government forces under the Duke of Argyle.

The Jacobites are on the left, the Government forces on the right. The land slopes up from both table edges, most notably from the bottom right corner near the camera. Argyle has the right wing, with Major General Wightman in the centre, and Lt-General Whetham on the left. For the Jacobites Mar had their right, and Hamilton and Gordon the centre and left.

Jon (Mar) and Ian were the Jacobites, Will and Steve (Argyll) the Government. Richard was unable to attend.

Turn one, Steve wins the initiative, and announces he's going to be aggressive. This photo is rubbish as it is out of focus, but it shows the Government army turning off the road to try and get up on the heights. In the distance (where you can just see a white smear of smoke) Steve charged home with his two units of cavalry. This was, in my book, absolutely the right thing to do. Alas for him the Highlanders who were his targets delivered a devastating musket volley, that halted one squadron in its tracks, and badly damaged the other. Steve then lost the subsequent melee and was bounced.

Ian and Jon accepted the challenge, and surged forwards. Jon also immediately sent his reserve cavalry off to his right.

Steve's cavalry have been driven back by the press of the Highlanders. It's all looking a bit sticky for him. By now he was probably hoping to be careering down the slope near the camera, hacking and slashing at fleeing kilties.

The Government forces have more or less halted in a firing line now, whilst the Jacobites press on. I stressed at the beginning that neither side could afford to lose the battle but that for Mar the problem was more complicated. If he didn't fight, his Highlanders might go home in a sulk. If he loses, then his army falls apart, and if he wins then most of his Highlanders probably go home with their spoils, to write songs about how they won the war. What he really needs is a proper military leader like James III's half brother, the Duke of Berwick, or James himself...

As the Highlanders close, the British infantry is able to step forwards and deliver a volley. This inflicts a fair amount of damage. Steve has chucked his cavalry in again, possibly not with any hope of victory but in order to keep the enemy at bay and stop his flank being turned.

At the other end of the table, Will's attempt to hold off the Highlanders with a cavalry charge had the same outcome. I may need to revisit the cavalry rules for the '15.

Steve finally comes good with a cavalry charge. The Highlanders, having blown their one volley earlier, lose the melee, fail the subsequent morale check and then rout. Will that second line of lowlander infantry be sufficient to hold the flank together?

Down Jon & Will's end of the table it's getting a bit feisty. Some Highlanders will charge, some won't. Will's infantry open fire hoping to discourage them.

In the left of the centre one Red Coat battalion becomes intimidated as the Highlanders charge in. Will their volley be enough to hold them in place?

To their left a Government battalion broke in the face of the charge.

At the left hand end of the Government infantry line we had some scot-on-scot action, as the Highlanders tried to mix it with the Scots Fusiliers.

The Government left is looking a bit open as the Jacobites drive their opponents backwards.

On the Government right it's a mixed bag. The red coats have broken one Highland Regiment, and are holding off the rest of the foot, but they are heavily outnumbered. Steve's cavalry on the extreme right chance their arm and charge the second line lowlanders. Ian has found a gap in the line, and has some Highlanders hunting down the other damaged cavalry squadron.

Deadly platoon fire breaks a battalion of lowlanders, but there are more where they came from.

Ian's Highlanders see off Steve's other cavalry.

The centre of the battlefield is wreathed in smoke, as the battle reaches its climax.

The Government left is being overwhelmed by sheer weight of numbers. The Fusiliers fight bravely, but it probably won't be enough.

Surrounded on all sides, the Scots Fusiliers are wiped out to a man, and the Jacobite cavalry are finally through into the green fields and beyond.

The Government left has collapsed, the right has gone, and the centre is encircled. Looks like its all over for the Government forces.

So, unlike the original encounter a decisive win for the Jacobites, and the Old Pretender can come ashore safely, and meet up with his loyal followers. Who can say what will happen next? The Government's Dutch reinforcements will land soon, and more local regiments will be reconstituted to full strength, but their power has been shown to be weak in the North. Is the Union threatened?

Historically Argyle's cavalry wing attacked vigorously, and together with Wightman's infantry broke the Jacobite left comprehensively. Alas, due to the shape of the landscape Argyle had no idea what was happening on his left. What was happening was broadly what happened in the game. A total rout.

After seeing off his opponents Argyle rallied his men and returned to the battlefield, taking up a defensive position in amongst some turf wall enclosures lower down on the Jacobite side of the hill. Mar's men occupied the high ground, and so could claim victory, of a sorts. As a song of the time went, "And we ran, and they ran awa' man". Unfortunately the weather meant he had to retire from the area, and Argyle was able to reoccupy the ground and recover his dead and wounded. Argyle still had a functioning army, many of Mar's Highlanders had gone home, and James III, having landed, turned round promptly and went back to France, where Mar and several other senior Jacobites also ended up.

All things considered it wasn't a bad simulation of the battle. I will re-run it in due course, when Richard is able to take part, and when I've read Oate's book. I will also, I suspect, run it again once lockdown is over to put it on a larger board, and deploy more figures. I would be nice to be able to do the approach marches as well.

So, more from the Jacobites coming up.

* I am aware of Jonathan Oates' well regarded "Crucible of the Jacobite '15", and even have a copy of it. There's a funny story attached to that and why I didn't use it, but now is not the time.